Health spending per head by country

The chart shows UK public sector spending on health, per head by country, between 2009/10 and 2013/14. All prices are shown in real terms (in other words, they have been adjusted for inflation based on 2014/15 prices).

Overall health spending has fallen by £12 per person but there are variations between the different countries of the UK.

In England spending on health has remained relatively flat and in Scotland it has fallen by £51 per person, although Scotland starts from a higher base and remains the country that spends the most on health per person.

Wales has seen the largest decrease in spending on health: £125 per person over the time period. It fell particularly sharply between 2010/11 and 2012/13, with the reduction spread equally over the two financial years. This has led to it becoming the lowest spending country of the UK.

Northern Ireland is the only country that shows an increase in health spending over the time period, with an increase of £40 per person in real terms.

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The Nuffield Trust is an independent health charity. We aim to improve the quality of health care in the UK by providing evidence-based research and policy analysis and informing and generating debate.